QuickBooks Budgets and a Fractional CFO, The Perfect Combination

QuickBooks Budgets and a Fractional CFO, The Perfect Combination

Accurate budgeting is critical for small and growing businesses. By creating annual financial spending plans, business owners can glean insights into how their company’s hard-earned money is being spent and whether this spending aligns with the company’s goals and priorities. Budgeting with QuickBooks Budgets creates an opportunity to analyze cash flow so that profitability can flourish. 

However, the need to focus on core operations, or the lack of adequate staff, often leaves little time for businesses to spend on budgeting. In fact, just 54% of small businesses had a documented budget for 2021, according to a study of 335 small business owners by research firm Clutch. The smaller the company, the less likely they were to have prepared and followed a budget.

In yet another alarming statistic from a U.S Bank study, a whopping 82% of failed small businesses cited cash flow problems as a factor in their demise. This underscores the importance of keeping track of the money flowing in and out of an organization, and of maintaining good financial hygiene, even during the chaos of daily operational tasks.

Luckily, small business owners can tap a variety of tools, including business accounting software such as QuickBooks Budgets, to get help with forecasting and spending. With QuickBooks Budgets, companies can use their existing accounting data to easily create and keep track of budgets. Companies that need even more hands-on assistance can outsource the budgeting task to a virtual CFO, who can assist them with automating the process.

Keep reading to learn more about how QuickBooks Budgets and Fractional CFOs are the perfect combination.

Save Time With QuickBooks Budgets Integrations

QuickBooks Budgets offers the ability to create monthly, quarterly or annual budgets, and saves valuable time, and reduces the risk of human error by automatically pre-filling data from previous budgets.

Since many businesses are already using QuickBooks to manage their accounting, they can incorporate key financial information, and other relevant data, such as bank account balances, credit lines, investment portfolios, and bills, to further guide the creation of financial spending plans. Additionally, because it’s a cloud-based software program, QuickBooks Budgets enables integrations with a number of third-party data sources and tools that can further aid in this process.

By generating reports and automatically warning a business if it’s at risk of going over budget, QuickBooks Budgets help business owners stay accountable for the money flowing through the organization.

Here are some other ways QuickBooks can help:

• Budgets can be split by class, customer, or location to add a level of granularity.
• Automatic reminders can alert founders of suspicious activity or overspending.
• Budget overview and actual vs. expectation reports can guide future spending.

Should you Hire a Fractional CFO to Handle this Work for You?

Some businesses may find that, even with the availability of cloud-based software such as QuickBooks for budgeting, they don’t have the time or expertise to prepare a budget. They need the assistance of a financial professional

However, the cost of hiring a full-time CFO might be prohibitive, especially for small teams with limited resources. In this case, hiring a Fractional CFO who is experienced in QuickBooks Budgets is ideal.

A Fractional CFO is an external financial expert hired on a part-time, contractual, or retainer basis to address specific business needs. The Fractional CFO helps small and medium-sized businesses manage high-level financial responsibilities, including budgeting and forecasting.

Fractional CFOs are able to provide a wide range of services, from managing QuickBooks Budgets to conducting deep dives into market and customer segmentation to deliver reports on industry trends. Overall, Fractional CFO’s help a company improve profitability, either by meeting a specific goal, such as forecasting or taking on higher-level strategic tasks.

How to Access Fractional CFO Services

QuickBooks Budgets encourage financial accountability, a healthy, albeit time-consuming, practice for any business. Fractional CFO services, such as those provided by The A Team Consulting, are a time and cost-effective way to harness the benefits of effective budgeting and strategic planning for your business.

With over 20 years of experience, The A Team can provide a Fractional CFO who meets both your budget and your needs. Call 646-849-4267 or contact us online to get started.